Pantera’s Rex Brown: Vinnie Paul Won’t Speak to Me or Philip Anselmo

Rex Brown has further elaborated on the current relationship between Pantera’s surviving band members. Though Brown confirms he and Philip Anselmo are still on good terms, the bassist claims drummer Vinnie Paul won’t talk to either him or Anselmo.

Brown appeared on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation to speak about his new solo album, Smoke on This… Fans have been embracing Rex’s new sound, but the legendary status of Pantera always leaves new questions to be asked during interviews. Brown recently told Loudwire that Pantera has been “close” to a reunion of its living members, but this new Trunk Nation interview expands on why it hasn’t happened.

"Philip and I have been tight forever. Vinnie… You know, we've reached out a couple of times in e-mails and stuff like that, 'cause we still have business to run,” Brown says. "Vinnie is Vinnie, Philip is Phil, I'm me. But there's no hard blood between Philip and I. It's just… Vinnie will not speak with either one of us. So there you go."

During the interview, Brown said “never say never” multiple times. When asked if he meant reconnecting with Vinnie or performing Pantera’s music live again, Brown responded, “Both. I think number one is with Vince. I would love to sit and hash this out, man, and just become friends again. I really would. I mean, I've tried to leave olive branches."

Rex continues, "There was a bunch of s—t in my book [Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story Of Pantera] that was not supposed to be in that book and I went through ten different edits and they put it in there anyway and it left a f—king bit of sour in some people's mouths. And look, I was just telling my own truth. But at the same time, we're all like that, man. He's got his grievances, I've got mine, but let's come to a common base. Am I saying it's gonna happen tomorrow? Probably not. But can we shoot for the next day? I think that is important. We shared too much of our lives together to just let it go down the tubes. But it's been a long time that we haven't been in touch."

Smoke on This… was released July 28 via eOne. Rex Brown took a lot of time to find his voice for the project, performing lead vocals for the first time. Brown also put a special effort into focusing on guitar throughout the record.

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